North American versions of the European species Tricholoma pessundatum are various (and they are probably not the same as the European species, in my humble opinion), but they generally feature brown to reddish brown, sticky caps; whitish gills that develop brown to reddish brown spots and discolorations; and mealy odor and taste. Versions of varying stature have been documented, under hardwoods or conifers, across most of the continent. The illustrated collections come from oak-hickory woods in the Midwest (above) and from Quebec (below).

Description:

Ecology: Mycorrhizal with various hardwoods and conifers; growing alone, scattered, or gregariously; summer and fall (and over winter in warm climates); fairly widely distributed in North America.

Cap: 2.5-10 cm; convex becoming broadly convex, broadly bell-shaped, or nearly flat; sticky when fresh, but quickly dry; smooth or very finely hairy; brown to reddish brown over the center, and paler (often yellowish brown) toward the margin--or eventually more or less reddish brown overall.

Gills: Attached to the stem by a notch; close; whitish when young, developing brown to yellowish brown or reddish brown spots and discolorations and eventually becoming reddish brown overall.

The robust, California version of Tricholoma pessundatum occurring under pines (reported among other places in Arora, 1986) has been named Tricholoma muricatum; I have excluded its dimensions and data from the description above, which is drawn from my collections and from Ovrebo (1980).